849 research outputs found
Noninvasive ¹³C-octanoic acid breath test shows delayed gastric emptying in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive loss of motor neurons. However, ALS has been recognized to also involve non-motor systems. Subclinical involvement of the autonomic system in ALS has been described. The recently developed C-13-octanoic acid breath test allows the noninvasive measurement of gastric emptying. With this new technique we investigated 18 patients with ALS and 14 healthy volunteers. None of the patients had diabetes mellitus or other disorders known to cause autonomic dysfunction. The participants received a solid standard test meal labeled with C-13-octanoic acid. Breath samples were taken at 15-min intervals for 5 h and were analyzed for (CO2)-C-13 by isotope selective nondispersive infrared spectrometry. Gastric emptying peak time (t(peak)) and emptying half time (t(1/2)) were determined. All healthy volunteers displayed normal gastric emptying with a mean emptying t(1/2) of 138 +/- 34 (range 68-172) min. Gastric emptying was delayed (t(1/2) > 160 min) in 15 of 18 patients with ALS. Emptying t(1/2) in ALS patients was 218 +/- 48 (range 126-278) min (p < 0.001). These results are compatible with autonomic involvement in patients with ALS, causing delayed gastric emptying of solids and encouraging the theory that ALS is a multisystem disease rather than a disease of the motor neurons only
Comment on "Giant absorption cross section of ultracold neutrons in Gadolinium"
Rauch et al (PRL 83, 4955, 1999) have compared their measurements of the Gd
cross section for Ultra-cold neutrons with an exptrapolation of the cross
section for thermal neutrons and interpreted the discrepancy in terms of
coherence properties of the neutron. We show the extrapolation used is based on
a misunderstanding and that coherence properties play no role in absorption.Comment: 2 pages, 1 postscript figure, comment on Rauch et al, PRL 83,4955
(1999
Bouncing Neutrons and the Neutron Centrifuge
The recent observation of the quantum state of the neutron bouncing freely
under gravity allows some novel experiments. A method of purifying the ground
state is given, and possible applications to the measurement of the electric
dipole moment of the neutron and the short distance behaviour of gravity are
discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Bilateral symmetry breaking in a nonlinear Fabry-Perot cavity exhibiting optical tristability
We show the existence of a region in the parameter space that defines the
field dynamics in a Fabry-Perot cylindrical cavity, where three output stable
stationary states of the light are possible for a given localized incident
field. Two of these states do not preserve the bilateral (i.e. left-right)
symmetry of the entire system. These broken-symmetry states are the
high-transmission nonlinear modes of the system. We also discuss how to excite
these states.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Study of the neutron quantum states in the gravity field
We have studied neutron quantum states in the potential well formed by the
earth's gravitational field and a horizontal mirror. The estimated
characteristic sizes of the neutron wave functions in the two lowest quantum
states correspond to expectations with an experimental accuracy. A
position-sensitive neutron detector with an extra-high spatial resolution of ~2
microns was developed and tested for this particular experiment, to be used to
measure the spatial density distribution in a standing neutron wave above a
mirror for a set of some of the lowest quantum states. The present experiment
can be used to set an upper limit for an additional short-range fundamental
force. We studied methodological uncertainties as well as the feasibility of
improving further the accuracy of this experiment
Space-Time Approach to Scattering from Many Body Systems
We present scattering from many body systems in a new light. In place of the
usual van Hove treatment, (applicable to a wide range of scattering processes
using both photons and massive particles) based on plane waves, we calculate
the scattering amplitude as a space-time integral over the scattering sample
for an incident wave characterized by its correlation function which results
from the shaping of the wave field by the apparatus. Instrument resolution
effects - seen as due to the loss of correlation caused by the path differences
in the different arms of the instrument are automatically included and analytic
forms of the resolution function for different instruments are obtained. The
intersection of the moving correlation volumes (those regions where the
correlation functions are significant) associated with the different elements
of the apparatus determines the maximum correlation lengths (times) that can be
observed in a sample, and hence, the momentum (energy) resolution of the
measurement. This geometrical picture of moving correlation volumes derived by
our technique shows how the interaction of the scatterer with the wave field
shaped by the apparatus proceeds in space and time. Matching of the correlation
volumes so as to maximize the intersection region yields a transparent,
graphical method of instrument design. PACS: 03.65.Nk, 3.80 +r, 03.75, 61.12.BComment: Latex document with 6 fig
Matter wave pulses characteristics
We study the properties of quantum single-particle wave pulses created by
sharp-edged or apodized shutters with single or periodic openings. In
particular, we examine the visibility of diffraction fringes depending on
evolution time and temperature; the purity of the state depending on the
opening-time window; the accuracy of a simplified description which uses
``source'' boundary conditions instead of solving an initial value problem; and
the effects of apodization on the energy width.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
Electromagnetic energy penetration in the self-induced transparency regime of relativistic laser-plasma interactions
Two scenarios for the penetration of relativistically intense laser radiation
into an overdense plasma, accessible by self-induced transparency, are
presented. For supercritical densities less than 1.5 times the critical one,
penetration of laser energy occurs by soliton-like structures moving into the
plasma. At higher background densities laser light penetrates over a finite
length only, that increases with the incident intensity. In this regime
plasma-field structures represent alternating electron layers separated by
about half a wavelength by depleted regions.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publication to PR
Atomic matter wave scanner
We report on the experimental realization of an atom optical device, that
allows scanning of an atomic beam. We used a time-modulated evanescent wave
field above a glass surface to diffract a continuous beam of metastable Neon
atoms at grazing incidence. The diffraction angles and efficiencies were
controlled by the frequency and form of modulation, respectively. With an
optimized shape, obtained from a numerical simulation, we were able to transfer
more than 50% of the atoms into the first order beam, which we were able to
move over a range of 8 mrad.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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